Social media giant Facebook has reportedly launched a new app mean to siphon data from users’ cellphones. The app is called the Bolt App Lock of which it claims that it would lock down any app simply using a pin code.
Security analysts claim that Bolt App Lock appears to protect the users’ but in reality it sends the gathered data to Facebook without the users’ approval.
Sensor Tower has discovered the recent Facebook app. Techcruch reported that Bolt App Lock does not offer a VPN. Instead, it simply uses either a PIN code, a pattern, or your fingerprint to lock down any app.
Apart from this, Bolt App Lock also locks down other essential information used by any apps. This includes personal information, payment details, private photos, among others.
“The problem is that, while Bolt App Lock may do exactly what it claims, its true purpose appears to be collecting data on its users to further satiate Facebook’s creepy desire to know what everyone is doing at all times,” Dell Cameron of Gizmodo wrote.
In case you don’t know, the app is a product of data-security app Onavo. The company was acquired by Facebook back in 2013 to gain possible insights in mobile users. The app was developed for Android users, according to the app’s listing on Google Play.
Below is the app’s listing at Google Play:
“We collect info about your mobile device and the apps installed on it. This includes info about when those apps are used, and device and network information. We use and analyze this info to help us operate Bolt App Lock, an Onavo app, and improve the service. Because we’re part of Facebook, we also use this info to improve Facebook products and services, gain insights into the products and services people value, and build better experiences.”
With this, security experts claim that Facebook is doing a sort of “surveillance” to mobile users.
